Technology is needed that successfully connects design engineering with production technology, especially in the area of advanced materials and processes. Design engineers need an automated way to evaluate the cost of producing parts or components they design. Normally, a manufacturing engineer has to conduct a cost evaluation as a separate exercise. In the absence of manufacturing data on materials and processes, the engineer normally uses a complexity factor on an older part performing the same or similar function. This technique is arbitrary, lacking a scientific basis for estimating cost. Some computer programs, such as PriceH (a commercially available system from Lockheed-Martin) and Compeat (proprietary to General Electric Aircraft Engines “GEAE”), exist and are based on comparative/parametric estimating, requiring historical data. However, such approaches are deficient for advanced materials and processes where there is little or no historical data, or where the historical data is drastically different than the desired materials or processes. Moreover, manufacturing data on advanced materials and processes is hard to find, and the limited data available is often misleading if projected to maturity without manufacturing technology assessment. Furthermore, the above programs do not successfully link with the knowledge base of design engineering, making them awkward to use. Since the prior techniques for estimating costs are often deficient, engineers typically ignore the eventual cost of manufacturing, leaving it for the production department to control the cost. Moreover, prior techniques can be deficient in considering manufacturing processes, and can be difficult to upgrade, expand or modify.